How Would You Deal With This?

[maelb05]

I have a 3 1/2 year old who has been potty trained for about 2 months. Up until today she has never pooped here since she has been potty trained. She has always stayed dry and has been peeing in the toilet consistently. Today she pooped in her underwear but did not tell me. I realized she pooped when I walked near her, smelled it and saw it all over her hands! That’s right, she put her hands down her pants to touch it/play with it? She never put her hands down her pants after pooping while in diapers, so this is a first. Now I am afraid to let her go back to playing with my toys and with the other children. Oh, the germs!

[Ariana]

My guess is that she is purposefully holding it in and today it forced its way out. I have a newly potty trained 2 year old and she has not pooped here in about two months. She holds it until she gets home on her potty for some odd reason. The other day she had a giant poop in her pullup at nap time and it went everywhere!

What is happening at home? Have you mentioned the not pooping at your house? My parents are fully aware DCK holds it until she gets home and actually has constipation issues because of it.

[CountryRoads]

I had this happen not too long ago! The child is still in a diaper and somehow managed to get it on his arms...yuck. I stuck the child in the bath and messaged mom to let her know what happened. It hasn't happened since and mom said he's never done it before.

Kids can be gross!

[maelb05]

I texted for pick up. They know she doesn’t poop here and mom said she hasn’t pooped in three days because she doesn’t want to go on the toilet. It took me 45 minutes to somewhat get her cleaned up with wet wipes. It was all over her hands, up her backside, down her legs....so gross! I sent her home because I will not give baths here and it was so messy! Mom said she has never touched it before, but thinks it is because she was uncomfortable. Whatever the reason, so many germs and so gross!! Mom then asked if she could bring her back after a bath. Um, no. Once I send her home, she is gone for the day.

[Ariana]

I texted for pick up. They know she doesn’t poop here and mom said she hasn’t pooped in three days because she doesn’t want to go on the toilet. It took me 45 minutes to somewhat get her cleaned up with wet wipes. It was all over her hands, up her backside, down her legs....so gross! I sent her home because I will not give baths here and it was so messy! Mom said she has never touched it before, but thinks it is because she was uncomfortable. Whatever the reason, so many germs and so gross!! Mom then asked if she could bring her back after a bath. Um, no. Once I send her home, she is gone for the day.

If she does not want to go on the toilet where does she go? My own child had issues with her poop and did not start pooping in the toilet until she was 4 She would wait for her nightime pullup. Then one day when she was 4 she started pooping in the toilet all on her own. So weird!

[maelb05]

If she does not want to go on the toilet where does she go? My own child had issues with her poop and did not start pooping in the toilet until she was 4 She would wait for her nightime pullup. Then one day when she was 4 she started pooping in the toilet all on her own. So weird!

She asks for a pull-up at home. Mom said they knew she had to poop last night because she asked for a pull-up. They told her no and that she needed to poop in the toilet. Pull-ups are only for night time and naps. So it makes sense that she was trying to hold it in and couldn’t any longer. I was just shocked at how loose/messy it was! Not diarrhea, but such a mess!

[Pestle]

So grateful for my laundry sink, in the room adjacent to my playroom. It is directly next to the water heater so the water is instantly warm, and it has a sprayer hose on the faucet. It has seen a lot of use. If I had to make a list of my favorite things about this house, it would probably be in the top three or four. (DH and I have developed a metric of how poorly my day has gone; the X axis is "decibel level" and the Y axis is "amount of bleach used")

[Indoorvoice]

She asks for a pull-up at home. Mom said they knew she had to poop last night because she asked for a pull-up. They told her no and that she needed to poop in the toilet. Pull-ups are only for night time and naps. So it makes sense that she was trying to hold it in and couldn’t any longer. I was just shocked at how loose/messy it was! Not diarrhea, but such a mess!

Aw poor girl! I hate that potty training has to be so all or nothing for some people! My middle daughter was fully trained for pee but asked for a pull up to poop for a good 6 months. I totally let her. At least she was verbalizing it and I'd rather she ask for a pull up to poop in than poop in her undies or feel uncomfortable trying to hold it and ultimately causing bigger issues down the road. She finally one day decided she didn't want pull ups anymore after our neighbor girl called her a baby for asking for one. Good ol peer pressure! I hope she can figure it out. Perhaps suggest to the mom to allow her to poop in the pull up if she's more comfortable with that right now. I would be comfortable allowing that in my daycare but I know not everyone might be. Again, I would much rather change her in and out of a pull up for poop than to clean up a mess or have her uncomfortable.

[Mike]

She asks for a pull-up at home. Mom said they knew she had to poop last night because she asked for a pull-up. They told her no and that she needed to poop in the toilet. Pull-ups are only for night time and naps. So it makes sense that she was trying to hold it in and couldn’t any longer. I was just shocked at how loose/messy it was! Not diarrhea, but such a mess!

If mom didn't put her in a pullup last night, she should have expected an accident.

One girl I babysat was peeing in the toilet at 2, but wouldn't poop in a toilet until she was 4. She stayed in pullups until then.

[Mom2Two]

To me, if they will only poop in a pull-up, then they are not ready for underwear.

I charge "underwear accident" fees--it really helps discourage parents from wanting to bring kids in underwear when the kid isn't ready.

And eeeew on the poopy arm!! I had a 3.5/4 yo who poop painted my bathroom twice. I took photos, because it was so unbelievable. But when it kept coming across the photos in my camera roll, they always made me gag so I had to delete them.

[Hunni Bee]

I had a dcg that held her poop because it was icky. She held it for days and her mom gave her a laxative at home the night before. So guess what happens the next morning at daycare? Two weeks worth of super foul smelling, sticky, traumatic poop. I also called for pickup.

The mom took her home and bathed her, and tried to bring her back too. No ma'am. What if she had to go again?

[rosieteddy]

I never allowed undies if they were not completely trained.Having them ask for a pullup to poop is not potty trained in my book.Undies were earned for using the potty for both pee and poop .I hated when they played with it .

[Michael]

Interesting that we have another threads with a 3 yo girl potty training regression: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45890

[maelb05]

Quite honestly my question is, when a child has pooped so much that it requires needing a bath and is so messy that it is on the bathroom floor/mats, do you feel like it is your job to get the child cleaned up before pick up or leave it for the parents to deal with when they come? Again, I don't give baths here so I called for pickup. I know it may not seem reasonable to put this on the parent, but on the other hand, how are we as a provider of multiple children supposed to be able to supervise all the children in care when having to spend a significant amount of time (it took me 45 minutes) cleaning up the child and the bathroom. I have never had a situation quite like this happen in all my years of child care. I have definitely dealt with poop/puke cleanups, but nothing to this degree that has taken so much of my time away from fully supervising all the children.
For those of you who bathe a child after an incident like this or have a child smear there poop in the bathroom, how do you continue to supervise the other children in care while cleaning the child and/or the bathroom?
Just trying to figure out the best plan of action if/when this occurs again. This particular child will be in a pull up from now on until she is willing to poop in the toilet.

[Blackcat31]

Quite honestly my question is, when a child has pooped so much that it requires needing a bath and is so messy that it is on the bathroom floor/mats, do you feel like it is your job to get the child cleaned up before pick up or leave it for the parents to deal with when they come? Again, I don't give baths here so I called for pickup. I know it may not seem reasonable to put this on the parent, but on the other hand, how are we as a provider of multiple children supposed to be able to supervise all the children in care when having to spend a significant amount of time (it took me 45 minutes) cleaning up the child and the bathroom. I have never had a situation quite like this happen in all my years of child care. I have definitely dealt with poop/puke cleanups, but nothing to this degree that has taken so much of my time away from fully supervising all the children.
For those of you who bathe a child after an incident like this or have a child smear there poop in the bathroom, how do you continue to supervise the other children in care while cleaning the child and/or the bathroom?
Just trying to figure out the best plan of action if/when this occurs again. This particular child will be in a pull up from now on until she is willing to poop in the toilet.

I would consider this a "non-contained" BM and thus would call for pick up.

I do not and would not bathe a child regardless of the circumstances. However, that said I would clean them up the best I could with wet wipes as no child should remain in soiled underwear/clothing or a soiled diaper but other than wiping them down enough to go home, that is the extent of my responsibility.

As for supervision of the other children.....I guess I'd just make sure they were all occupied with whatever they were doing prior. The only kids I'd worry about would be the under 2 crowd and for them I'd use a gate or a PNP to limit their ability to get into anything while you are busy. The older kids should all be able to understand that you are needing to address this situation and be able to occupy themselves safely for a short period of time.